TweetChapter books-that final leap into the world of literature where pictures matter less and less. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: I think that the Chronicles of Narnia is one of the best series of chapter books for both young readers and adults. In the first book in the series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we are introduced to three youngsters, Peter (the eldest) then Susan, Edmund, and young Lucy, who are being sent to stay with a professor to safely wait out the war. The Phantom Tollbooth: One day, a bored young boy named Milo unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth, which he decides to drive through in his toy car.
Holes: Stanley Yelnats is a boy with terrible luck, due to a curse that was placed on his great-great-Grandfather. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Huck is a poor illiterate boy who suffers at the hands of his brutal father. Anne of Green Gables: Anne Shirley is a young orphan girl who is being sent to middle-aged unmarried siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. The Mysterious Benedict Society: When a strange ad calling for gifted children appears in the paper, dozens apply. The Tale of Despereaux: Despereaux Tillings is a small mouse with a large task-to rescue a beautiful human princess.
The Velveteen Rabbit: I have exceptionally fond memories of getting this book read to me as a child.
Hatchet: Brian Robeson is 13 years old when his plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness-the pilot dead after a heart attack. The Little Prince: Narrated by an airplane pilot whose plane has just crashed in the Sahara Desert, The Little Prince is a unique story that opens our eyes to the wonders of the world around us.
Because of Winn-Dixie: A young girl, India Opal Buloni, moves to a trailer park in Florida with her preacher father. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: Edward Tulane is a china rabbit, who lives a vain life with a little girl who loves him dearly. Tuck Everlasting: The Tuck family has either a terrible curse upon them, or they are blessed, for they have eternal life. James and the Giant Peach: James Henry Trotter is a four year old boy who lives a peaceful life with his mother and father in a cozy home. Artemis Fowl: Artemis Fowl II is a criminal mastermind-who also happens to be a 12 year old boy. Island of the Blue Dolphins: Karana is young when the Aleuts attack her village and tribe, killing her father and many others. The Golden Compass: The Golden Compass is the first book in Phillip Pullmans His Dark Materials trilogy.
The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson is 12 years old when he finds out that he is a Half-Blood.
Black Beauty: A totally classic chapter book, it is told from the first person point of view of a stunningly beautiful horse named Black Beauty. Ella Enchanted: Ella is cursed from the time she is born, when a fairy named Lucinda gives her the a€?gifta€? of being obedient. Shiloh: A young boy, Marty, discovers a dog wandering the hills near his home in West Virginia.
The Graveyard Book: It begins with a man named Jack, just as he is done murdering all the members of a family, except for the toddler upstairs.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Tom is a clever and mischievous boy with a knack for getting into trouble. Matilda: Matilda is an undeniably sweet and bright little girl who is, unfortunately, adopted by rather grouchy parents, who also happen to have a bratty son that is to become her brother. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: This is the final installment in the Harry Potter series. Little Women: Following the lives of the four March girls, Little Women begins as the two youngest, Meg and Jo, are entering adolescence. Wonderstruck: There are two different stories in this book-making it longer even then The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The Lost Hero: Preceded by Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lost Hero is the first book in the series The Heroes of Olympus.
The Neverending Story: Bastian Balthazar Bux is a lonely boy, neglected by his father and bullied by his classmates. The Wind in the Willows: Mole, who is usually quite a homebody, gets fed up with spring cleaning one day, and travels to the surface to enjoy the nice weather. Fablehaven: Brother and sister Seth and Kendra are sent away to stay with their Grandfather whilst their parents are on vacation.
Stargirl: Leo is an 11th grader at Mica High, and he has never met anyone like Stargirl before.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond: When orphaned Kit Tyler is forced to leave her warm, sunny Caribbean home and head for a colony in Connecticut, she is devastated. The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963: Alternately hilarious and moving, this book takes a look at the Watson family-namely Byron Watson, who is constantly getting into trouble for one thing or another.
The Westing Game: Six heirs who are chosen to live in Sunset Towers apartments are brought together to hear the will of self-made millionaire Samuel W. I absolutely LOVE to read historical fiction – especially Biblical Historical Fiction. This part comes when Paul has finally arrived in Rome (where his life ends at the hands of Nero). Before Burrus had even dismissed Paul, three of the eavesdropping Christians scuttled away – Epaphroditus with his purse of alms from Philippi jingle, Priscilla and Aquila. The Only place Epaphproditus could afford not eh Philppian relief fund, even with help from the Roman church, was a room five flights up. The two men paid Paul’s advance rent for several months, haggling vainly over the price.
The housing shortage might be acute, the purse thin, but no apostle would live in drab filth so long as Christian women had hands and strong backs!
The next morning Paul moved in twitch Luke and Aristarchus and the first shift of his constantly changing guards. Young readers are now able to be spirited away to strange and far off places, without the limitations of what is drawn on a page. It is about the Murray family, namely Meg Murray and young Charles Wallace, who go on adventure through time and space (traveling through something called a tesseract) to find their father. I grew up reading them, and I still don’t hesitate to grab one off the shelf and plop down with it and a nice cup of tea.
In the big house, Lucy finds a wardrobe which takes her into the wonderful world of Narnia. The tollbooth then takes him to the Kingdom of Wisdom, where he embarks upon many adventures, including a quest to save the princesses, Princess Rhyme and Princess Reason. No one ever comes out of the factory, and nobody ever goes in, and yet it is still churning out tons of incredible delicious treats.
He is sent to Camp Green Lake, a correctional facility, when he is accused of a crime he did not commit.
The society has eliminated all pain, fear, war and hatred, and as a result has also lost passion, the ability to love deeply, and connections within families. She is all these things because she was unwanted by her parents, and raised mostly by servants that just tried to spoil her to keep her out of the way.
In it, a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is grudgingly forced out of The Shire and into an adventure, set in place by the wizard Gandolf. When he decides to flee he is joined a runaway slave named Jim, who is trying to escape even worse brutalities than an abusive father.
Although they wanted a boy to help them out around the farm, Anne is bright, imaginative, and energetic.
They are made to go through a series of physically and mentally challenging tasks that only the brightest and most resourceful children will be able to get through. This book is divided into four different sections (called books) that tell the story from different viewpoints. It is a lovely tale, albeit somewhat sad, about a young boy and his Velveteen Rabbit whom he gets when his china dog is replaced. While stranded, a young boy (the little prince) approaches the pilot and asks him to draw a sheep. Lonely, she explores the Winn-Dixie supermarket, where she meets a scruffy, scrappy dog getting into all kinds of mischief. The book begins with Alice sitting on riverbank one warm, lazy, day, when she see’s something strange-a white rabbit in a waistcoat who dashes by, pauses to look at his pocket watch, and then dashes off down a rabbit hole. It is a competition in which three students from different schools (Bobaton, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts) that are of age undertake three incredibly difficult tasks.

His father had been killed in a fire while repairing an automaton- a complex robot designed to look and write like a human. An unfortunate twist of fate takes this away from Edward when he tumbles over the side of an ocean liner.
The two of them, plus a cast of colorful characters, go on all sorts of adventures in the 100 Acre Woods.
When the new chief of the tribe heads out for a new land, he sends a ship back for his people. The three Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, are sent to live with their wicked uncle (Count Olaf) after their parents are killed in a fire.
It is told from the point of view of a 10 year old girl, Annemarie Johansen, as she struggles to deal with the cruelty that is taking place all around her.
She regularly takes walks along her a€?spy routea€? and writes down everything she hears and thinks about people in a notebook. When is only 3 years old he is sent to live with his strict Christian Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, who are always fighting, even over him.
Unbeknownst to him, the toddler has climbed out of his crib to explore, and finds himself a way out of the house, and into a nearby graveyard, where he is given the name Nobody and raised by ghosts. One night he and his friend, Huck, sneak off to the graveyard to find a a€?curea€? for warts. Eventually, her parents send her to a school with a cruel principal, deemed a€?The Trunchbull.a€? Thankfully, there is a kind teacher there who takes Matilda under her wing. There they must face illness and dangers such as they hadn’t encountered before, and are eventually forced to leave the land. It brings together Harry, and pretty much every other character that we have met over the years at Hogwarts, in a final battle against Lord Voldemort. It follows them over the 15 years of their lives where they must face the fact that they are no longer rich after their father’s fortune was lost- indeed they live in near poverty.
First, there is the story of Ben, a deaf boy who goes on a mission to find his father after his mother is killed. Whereas Percy Jackson focused solely on Greek mythology, The heroes of Olympus series incorporates Roman mythology as well. The book has 30 chapters, and each one tells a new, totally wacky adventure about the kids in Mrs. Both of them are strongly warned to stay out of the woods, but the headstrong Seth goes out exploring anyways. His Grandfather is very poor though, and falls into depression when he cannot pay the taxes on the land. Her father is a book binder, and as such introduced her to the joys of reading at a very early age. In 1963, the family heads to Birmingham to visit the one person who can shape Byron up-Grandma. The film, The Greatest Story Ever Told, based on Oursler’s book, was released in 1965. Although they weren’t written terribly long ago, the Harry Potter books have quickly become classics. He had vanished mysteriously whilst working on a project that dealt with none other than what they are using to get around-tesseracts. When she convinces her siblings to come with her, they find themselves in the midst of another war against a cruel ruler called The White Witch.
One day it is announced that in five chocolate bars there will be a golden ticket-which will gain the lucky holder entry into Wonka’s factory. At Camp Green Lake, under the watch of the vicious warden, the boys are forced to dig holes in the dirt under the hot burning sun all day. Nobody makes any choices-otherwise they will be a€?releaseda€? aka killed-and there are strict rules as to how everything runs. When cholera kills her parents and the servants in the manor, she is sent to live with her Uncle on a lonely moor.
This is dreadful for Bilbo, because Hobbits are known for staying at home and enjoying peace and quiet. The book tells the story of how she makes her way with the Cuthbert’s, and goes on to follow her as she sails through school and onto a scholarship, with plenty of hardship and friendship found along the way. As our heroes face ever increasingly more difficult tasks they must turn to each other for support, but with their new found friendship at stake will they be able to pass the most important test of all? The other more expensive toys scorn the Velveteen Rabbit, fancying themselves to be real while he is not. A series of unfortunate events unfold one after the other as Brian does his best to survive with his meager supplies and somewhat poor survival skills. It seems like for once, things are going smoothly for Harry-until his name comes out of the goblet of fire as the fourth champion. When a young girl, Winnie Foster, finds out their secret, the Tucks try to explain to her why living forever is not as good as it may seem. Jess slowly becomes more secure in his identity as he continues to travel to Teribithia with Leslie. On a shopping trip to London, Jame’s mother and father are both swallowed by an escaped Rhinoceros.
He sets out on a journey to Vietnam to track down the Fairy Holy Book-and takes a fairy for ransom along the way.
When it is about to set sail and Karana’s brother is still not on the ship, she jumps off and swims to the island.
Things only go from bad to worse then, with Olaf after the family fortune, and don’t get better.
While she herself is not Jewish, her best friend Ellen is, and Annemaries family does their best to protect her. Consequently, she writes some nasty things, and when her classmates find the notebook and read it, they decide to take revenge. When Jeffery is old enough, he runs away and finds himself 200 miles away in a town that is divided based off of race and color. The wealthy people who owned him get rid of him, as he is no longer presentable in their eyes. Being bound to marry a man she despises, she heads off in search of her father, and while looking for him becomes lost in the Alaskan wilderness.
When it is discovered that his real owner is a man named Judd Travers, Marty begs his father to let him keep Shiloh, as Travers is known for being abusive to his dogs. Jack continues to hunt him, and eventually Nobody must stand up to the murderer of his family. While they are there, they accidentally become witnesses to a murder committed by a man named Injun Joe. Matilda randomly starts to develop telekinetic powers, and slowly begins to master them in an effort to drive The Trunchbull away from the school. Before he can destroy his enemy though, Harry must first track down the rest of the Horcruxes that contain a part of Voldemorts soul. Each of them dreams of a a€?castle’ that they will have in the end, but wind up with very different futures then what they expected. The Lost Hero opens with a boy name Jason who wakes up on a school bus with a girl named Piper, who claims to be his girlfriend, and a boy named Leo who claims to be his best friend. Mole travels around with Rat more and more often, and together they embark upon a series of adventures that involve saving their friend-the obsessive and self-destructive Toad-battling weasels and ferrets, and exploring the Wild Woods to find the elusive Badger. In the woods, he learns that his Grandfathers land is home to many mythical creatures, good and bad.
Determined to do something to help, young Willy enters his dog Searchlight in the National Dogsled Contest, for which the first place prize is 500 dollars. It is unbeknownst to her that her father can read characters out of books-until one night he accidentally reads forth an evil villain by the name of Capricorn, who transgresses the boundaries of fictions and enters our world.
She is always completely and totally herself, dancing around the cafeteria and playing the ukulele and singing happy birthday whenever she gets the chance. The only place she feels free is in the meadows, where she befriends an old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond. While they are there, they experience a dark moment in history when Grandmas church is burned down, with 4 people still inside.
In addition to figuring out the more awkward details of becoming a teenager, she is trying to figure out her own religious beliefs. Below you will find a list of some of the best children’s chapter books, suitable for a wide range of ages. When the farmer’s daughter (Fern) finds out, she pleads with her dad to let him live.

Milo literally jumps to the Island of Conclusions) that will entertain just about anyone who reads it. Filled with a cast of eccentric characters and magnificent inventions to marvel at, it is a read that won’t fail to delight. It soon becomes apparent that the warden is looking for something, and as the book progresses three different stories intertwine to figure out what the warden wants, and why she wants it so badly.
There she discovers a secret garden, and within it, a young crippled boy who has been confined there for years.
But there’s a little spark in Bilbo, and it turns out he has spunk that sets him apart from other Hobbits, which make him perfect for the adventure. The little prince is from a far off planet that he took great care of, until he fell in love with a rose. Because of Winn-Dixie, India meets all sorts of characters, and figures out quite a bit about herself, and her life, in the process. She comes upon a great hallway filled with doors, and once she figures out how to get through, she embarks upon a series of wacky, absurd adventures that are both humorous, and slightly frightening. He is then forced to undergo a series of life changes as he passes from one person to the next, bringing him farther from home, and more importantly, farther from the selfish rabbit he once was. While they try and keep their secret hidden, a stranger soon begins following Winnie about, wanting to market and sell the waters from the fountain of youth. Their friendship is not limited there though-they see each other at school, and spend holidays together.
They quickly become one of the finest hunting teams around, and win the gold cup in the coon-hunt contest.
They capture the essence of a playful child and the incredible powers of their imaginations.
He is then sent to live in a ramshackle house with his wicked aunts-Spiker and Sponge-who abuse him for the next 3 years. When he demands an enormous ransom for her, the repercussions are much more intense then imagined.
When her brother is killed, Karana is left to survive on her own-which she did, for 18 years. It’s only thanks to their wit and perseverance that they are able to escape the cunning and evil Olaf-or so they think. He earns the nickname Maniac and quickly becomes a legend thanks to his incredible physical feats, and his apparent ignorance of racial boundaries.
This time, she is able to pass through and enter another world-the same as her own, except with a terrifying a€?Other Mothera€? who kidnaps Coralines real parent’s and tries to force Coraline to stay with her.
When Zeus’s master bolt (the thing that allows him to create lightning) is stolen, he accuses Poseidon and says if he does not return it he will declare war.
The rest of the book tells about the many owners that he is passed to, some cruel and some kind. The other story is of a girl named Rose, who is also deaf, whose story is told entirely in pictures.
Without knowing it, he effectively becomes a part of the story, which takes place in the land of Fantastica.
Despite being also warned to not mess around with the creatures in the woods, Seth captures a fairy, which destroys the alliance the fairy’s had with his Grandfather.
This means that he will have to go up against the Native American, Stone Fox, who races his team of malamutes every year and invariably wins.
Together, Meggie and her father Mo must learn how to harness the powerful magic that brought this evil upon them. When her friendship with the woman is revealed, she is faced with fear and suspicion and even accused of witchcraft.
They have $10,000 each to play the a€?game’ and whoever figures it out will inherit Westings $200,000,000 fortune and his company. They are the ones that continue to be loved for ages upon ages because they are, simply put, quite wonderful. One day, around the time of his eleventh birthday, a letter comes, addressed to Harry, to inform him that he is a wizard, and has been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This prequel to The Lord of The Rings trilogy will forever be marked as one of the most cherished chapter books in history. The boy takes the Velveteen Rabbit with him everywhere, until he becomes deathly ill with scarlet fever. When he crosses paths with another orphan, Isabelle, whose god father Hugo has been stealing parts from, things become even more complex. When an old man finds James crying, he hands him a sack of green crocodile tongues that James accidentally spills on a tree.
With the help of a mysterious cat who she saw back in the a€?real’ world, Coraline must free herself from the clutches of the evil a€?Other Mothera€? and rescue her parents.
Percy, aided by two trusty companions, set off to travel from coast to coast in an attempt to get the master bolt back and facing all manner of adventures along the way. But with worse weather coming on, Miyax knows she must try to find true shelter-with people-soon, even though she has yet to find her father. When Shiloh finds his way back to Marty, the boy hides him and attempt to keep him safe from his awful owner. Tom must then face his guilt, or else see an innocent man be convicted of a crime he did not commit. The book goes on to reveal that each one of them is really a demi-god, and are taken to Camp Half-Blood where they delve into their pasts in attempts to control their present. While there, he meets the boy warrior Atreyu who is on a quest to stop the Nothing, and the two of them embark upon a trying journey together. This then results in the kidnapping of his Grandfather and the release of a terrifying and evil monster that must somehow be defeated. In the fickle ways of highschool, however, Stargirlis shunned as quickly as she became popular.
What unfolds next is the story of all of Harrry’s adventures in his first year at school, and the start of a classic battle between good versus evil. A wise old man called The Giver passes memories of the society onto Jonas-including those before the Sameness. When he is well enough to travel he is sent to the seaside on doctors’ orders until he is all better, and all his toys are to be burned to disinfect the nursery. He encounters the narrow-minded world of adults, and is disturbed and amused at how preoccupied with work they seem. This book does a wonderful job of balancing these two emotions that come together to make this an unforgettable read. Toss in a prince who falls in love with her, a boarding school full of strict teachers, and a band of trolls that want to eat her, and you have the makings of a very interesting children’s book. Leo, who is now her boyfriend, must decide between her, and the acceptance of everybody else.
Once Jonas sees how devoid his world is compared to what it used to be, Jonas becomes determined to make things right. Living in the museum they get wrapped up in a mystery surrounding a statue that was possibly made by Michelangelo. Together, the pilot and the little prince learn much about what makes life important and fulfilling. A lovely tale of friendship, and the trials of growing up, this is a book that many young readers will be able to take something away from. Befriending a random group of insects that were also transformed by the tongues, James sets out on the adventure of a life time to rescue his parents. She discovers that they have human-level intelligence, after being experimented on in a lab called NIHM. The story that follows is a touching one about the incredible friendship between Charlotte and Wilbur, and the impact one very small being can make. Murray back home, and vanquish the evil Black Thing, which is threatening earth, along the way.
But even in the most dire of situations, as the Velveteen Rabbit finds out, there are still happy endings to be had.
Frankweiler a€“the woman who sold the statue to the museum- and discovers more about not just the statue, but about herself as well.